On one of her few days off from the The Kissing Booth 2’s South Africa shoot, Joey King talked to Vanity Fair’s Yohana Desta about her work on the Hulu series The Act, based on the true story of mother and daughter Dee Dee and Gypsy Rose Blanchard. In the series 19-year-old King, who has been acting since she was four years old, goes toe-to-toe with Oscar winner Patricia Arquette—and transforms into a character who, due to what was likely her mother‘s Munchausen by proxy syndrome, spent much of her life in a wheelchair and being treated for ailments she didn’t have.

Read more about Joey King and The Act here, and listen to the interview below, where you can also find a transcript of Yohana and Joey’s conversation.

Vanity Fair: How are you? Has this been just a crazy journey, with everything going on with The Act right now?

Joey King: Yeah. God crazy is an understatement. But yeah, absolutely. It’s been crazy. Overwhelming in the best way possible. I’ve done in the past couple months I’ve felt things I didn’t even know I could feel, you know, I’m just so excited about it all.

Was this something that you were kind of seeking out? Were you looking to do something darker or something more true crime?

I always look for things that will make me challenge myself and kind of scare me and make me, you know, anxious or nervous in a way. And when I got the script for The Act, it wasn’t offered to me or anything. It was an audition and I read the first script and it scared me. It scared me, not in a way that, oh, this is a scary show. It was very scary subject matter. It scared me in a way of, you know, could I actually be able to do this? And could I do it well? And that’s how I knew it was something that I wanted really badly. And I worked really hard on my audition and I went in and I got a callback and I went in again.

I think the seeking out, I never seek out anything, I don’t think, because then my mind will be closed off to other things. But after doing something like The Kissing Booth, which I had so much fun on and it was just like the greatest time and I was so excited with how it turned out, I thought it would be cool to do something darker. But I wasn’t, you know, telling my reps only send me dark things. Like I wanted it, I wanted to read it all. I wanted to see everything that was out there. But when this came, it was just one of those moments where it’s like, I need this and I want it so bad.

When you say that you were preparing for the audition, I’m curious about work that goes into that. So what were you doing to sort of prepare yourself to become Gypsy Rose?

Well, it was hard because in the audition they didn’t want any of the actresses auditioning to do the voice of Gypsy Rose. I thought that’s a little bit of a challenge because I know that if I worked hard enough on it, I could get there. Even though I didn’t have that much time, from the time I got the audition to the time I actually had to go in and audition. So that was a bit of a challenge for me, but I had to kind of get over that and just kind of doing the research online of things that were already there. But I also didn’t want to seem like I was trying to mock or imitate. And that’s hard to get across in a very short amount of time in an audition. When you have like six minutes in a room with people, it’s difficult to get exactly what you want in front of them and say like, Hey, I can do this. So I think the audition is the most challenging part of it, it’s half the battle really? And the whole thing just depends on those six minutes in there. It’s just very short amount of time. So I’m doing the research for it. Of course I watched the documentary, read the BuzzFeed article and just started looking at any article I could find, any interviews I could find. But the big challenge was how do I do this without doing her voice? And I don’t even know how I did it, man. Like I was so scared when I went in.

Were you familiar with the story before getting the script?

I had heard of the story, but I didn’t know much about it, but I did know of Gypsy and Dee Dee. But it wasn’t until I got the audition that I really started to do the research and find an overwhelming amount of information on them.

Were you a true-crime person at all beforehand?

Yeah. I mean, I mean, come on, right? It’s weird, like, why do we like it? It’s one of those things that after doing The Act I kind of have tried to answer that in a way. It’s hard to answer though, but I mean, people really like true crime and I’m one of them. It’s interesting to try and get inside the mind of, you know, a criminal.

I want to talk about, just sort of like the chronological journey that you took to become this character. I’m really curious about the physicality. We talked a little bit about the voice already, but how did you start preparing yourself for the physicality of what you were going to have to do?

Well, I remember when I got the offer to do the role, I immediately started again going online and finding any videos I could of her, any footage at all. And I rewatched the documentary, I think no less than 15 times. Her physicality was such a huge importance to who she was, especially around her mother. She just became this childlike—it was just such an infantilized way of being. She just carried such a childlike aura about her. So I wanted to be able to do that. But also because our story is told in Gypsy’s quiet moments as well, which we don’t really know what Gypsy was like in her quiet moments, but I wanted there to be a difference for when she’s around Dee Dee to when she’s by herself. Because she has that yearning and that longing for being a grown-up, for, you know, coming out of this shell and becoming independent. So I wanted there to be a difference in her physicality around her mother versus by herself. And then also when it came time to get my teeth fitted, that was a huge moment for me. I wanted to try and become this character as much as possible and embody her and just be her. So when I first had my fitting for fake teeth, that was really one of those moments where I was like, Wow, okay, this is really happening. I’m very excited to play this character. This is going to be an and myself physically. And that was something that scared me and I was really excited for. And then, and then I shaved my head and just all these things. But you know, doing practice in the wheelchair, getting really good at that because Gypsy was in a wheelchair her whole life.

She would know how to maneuver that thing without any problems. So just small things like that, every small little bit and you know, every pass through the scripts, everything, it just all helps get into, you know, that character. But I have to say the amount of preparation that I did, the amount of work I did on the voice, the amount of work I did on the character or the amount of physical work I did and you know, things that I tried to do to embody her. It all, it all is so important, but there’s nothing like being on set. And the spontaneous decisions that you make for your character on set are so, so important and they are so much grander and better than any preparation you could ever do. I feel, I really feel that way strongly. I feel like my best performance came when I didn’t even know that I was going to do something until I just did it. And I’m really thankful to our directors who let me have that freedom and to Patricia who was just the most collaborative person that I could have ever dreamed of working with.

Let’s talk about Patricia really quick. You know, the queen, icon, legend, so good in this. I’m sure that playing these roles that you two have in particular, I’m sure it creates like a very special and specific bond. So, I mean, are you guys just friends for life now because of these roles?

Absolutely. I mean we’ve said it to each other a million times. We’re not getting rid of each other. This experience bonded us so tightly and I learned so much as an actor, but not just as an actor, as a human being. She’s just one of the most kind human beings I’ve ever met. And so I learned so much from her as a person. And I think she and I will always be friends. Right before I left to go to Cape Town to film for like four months. I was like, I’m going to miss you so much. She was like, me too. And then we just went to Disneyland together.

Wait, you guys just went to Disneyland?

Yeah, it was really funny. Well, I knew she was going, we both knew we were going at this event and we got there and her and her daughter, Harlow, were there and I was like, hey guys, I’m leaving. And they were like, what’s going on? I was like I’m leaving for Africa and like a few days and they’re like, oh my God, we need to hang out before you go. And I was like, well, the only day I actually have that’s free is tomorrow. And then Patricia’s daughter was like, let’s go to Disneyland. And I was like, okay, and Patricia was like, okay, and we went, it was so much fun.

What a dream. That’s such a sweet story. I love that.

Right? She’s one of those people, she’s been in this industry, in this business for so long, but she’s just the most normal and sweet and giving person I’ve ever met. I hope that I age and that I grow up to be like Patricia, I really admire her and she makes me excited to be that age and to, you know, be an actress in that age group.

Yeah the work that she does, it’s really spectacular. I also wanted to ask, because my colleague Joanna Robinson, interviewed you a couple months ago before the show came out and you mentioned a story about how you came to set sick and Patricia brought you a big pot of soup. Can you just explain to the listeners what happened?

Yes! So I was, I remember episode three where we go to the convention and I’m dressed as Cinderella and everything. I got so sick. I had a bad fever, it was not good. I was sick as a dog and we were doing night shoots so it was just bad. And I wrapped at like 5 a.m. and I was called in at 5 p.m. the next day to start another, another round of shooting. And I came into work and I go to get my breakfast even though it was 5 p.m. at catering and they’re like, oh, we have an entire pot of soup for you that Patricia made last night at like 6 a.m. after she wrapped. That’s so sweet!

What kind of soup was it?

It was like chicken soup with ginger and butternut, it was so gourmet. I was so touched and it was so sweet and she just was running around all day making sure that the medic knew where I was and that I had my Ibuprofen to break my fever. She really did take care of me on that set.

You really just became like the mother and daughter, and had that bond in that way.

But in a very healthy way! She got really sick recently too and I felt so bad. So I Postmated her ice cream, but then my stupid ass did not like, I was like, yeah, she’s got a really bad cough, send her something cold. So she makes me chicken soup and I send her like Salt & Straw, which was just not the best move. But I mean I, I was thinking of her.

I wanted to touch on something that you said earlier about the craft, and I wanted to talk about the teeth and the shaving the head specifically. I’m sure it was like jarring to get used to—or was it jarring? Like was it freeing just to be able to do something radical in that way for a role?

For sure. I think it was freeing. I felt the most confident I’ve ever felt and the most scared at the same time. You know what I mean? It was one of those roles where it was just so complex and there was so much to do and there was so much to consider in every single frame of playing Gypsy. There’s so much I wanted to convey on camera. And so as much as it was one of those things that I was nervous about doing it, I was, you know, scared that I wouldn’t come across. But I was at the same time the most confident I’ve ever been in playing a role, in being able to transform like that. I felt so excited that I was given the opportunity just to become a different person. It’s an actor’s dream, you know, to just be able to embody someone else fully.

I’m so happy that I got that experience because you know, you lose a lot of vanity when you do the things that I did. I stopped working out too because, you know, I didn’t think Gypsy would have muscle tone. She sits in a wheelchair all the time. So I stopped working out. I shaved my head, I put in fake teeth. I did all these things, but no, part of me was like, oh man, I don’t like the way I look, or this is not fun for me. It’s genuinely the most happy I’ve felt about playing a character, and just content I’ve felt with myself, because I was able to look in the mirror every day and still be like, I’m proud of you. You know what I mean? I was proud of myself for doing what I was doing. I wasn’t focused on, you know, what I look like.

Yeah. I feel like that’s kind of like an artistic dream in a way. And then it also is reinforcement. Yes, I’m doing the right thing. I’m making the right choices because this is how I feel when I’m doing it.

Yeah. And shaving my head, it was one of those things. It was my third time doing it, but it was, this is, you know, my first time as an adult doing it. And so looking in the mirror, being able to fully say, You’re beautiful without your hair, and meaning it when I said it to myself. It’s something I was really happy I was able to do because it was not about the look, it was just about how I felt and I was still the same person and I was still very happy doing what I was doing, doing what I love, doing what I dreamed of doing. And so I was just happy and that that’s all I could ever ask for.

One thing I did want to talk about as well as, you know, the story, it’s based on a true story. It’s about Gypsy, Gypsy has made her remarks about the show and not being a fan of the show. I know that you weren’t able to meet her beforehand. When actors are playing real people, I’ve heard some say that sometimes they don’t want to meet the real person because they want to go into the performance. Would you have wanted to meet her if that had been possible?

It’s one of those questions where my answer changes every day, I don’t know. Part of me is like, yes I wanted to, I would’ve loved to have met her and been able to just sit down with her and really get—but then the other part of me doesn’t know if I would have liked that. It doesn’t know if it would’ve helped me or hurt me, you know, as far as playing her. And I still don’t know. But I hope that when she gets out one day and if she does watch the show that she will, she will hopefully find the good in the show as far as it really showcasing her in a sense and really showcasing how much of a victim she was. Cause she really was a victim. Her life—no one deserves the life that she had. The fact that she’s in prison still, it’s heartbreaking to me. I think she deserves a much better life now. She deserves to be free and deserves to be in therapy, not behind bars. I hope she knows how much I respect her story and how much truth I wanted to bring to it.

At the end of a really intense project like this, did you find yourself doing things to sort of get back into being Joey or was there not like some big process to like shake the character off in that way?

I’m not a method actor really at all. I’m very lucky that it doesn’t stick with me. I was able to come home and just be me again, and I was also able to take away many, many friends from that experience, cast and crew both included. There were times when I would get home at night from a day of shooting and it was hard to shake Gypsy, but then I would just throw on some HGTV and open a bag of Doritos and I was fine. But there were some times when I got home at night where it was a little difficult to shake the day if it was a hard day or it was a really, really emotional day. But I’m thankful that I was surrounded by so much love and support by the cast and crew and everybody involved that I felt really protected and loved and I was able to get back to myself quite quickly.

Did you, did you keep any keepsakes from the set?

Oh yeah. And I also, I stole a few things afterward.

Come on. What did you take?

So I took this picture of Patricia and I that was just like in the house in character, and I was sitting on her lap and you know, she was like holding me and it’s really eerie. It’s a really eerie picture and it’s on my bedside table now. And I also took, for people who have seen it and who, you know, know what this is. It’s one of those things you might miss. Mr. Puddles, the bear with the yellow raincoat in the show. He has a little close-up in episode eight and it’s very disturbing. So he was the talk of the town with the crew of who was going to get Mr. Puddles. So I broke into the prop room at wrap on the last day, I scaled the fence. Yeah, there was like a chain-link fence around the prop room because everyone knew, like everyone wanted to take something from this show. Everyone was like gone celebrating in the other room, so I like scaled the fence. I took Mr. Puddles.

Now you’re on this journey, post The Act. What else is next for you?

Life post The Act. So sappy. No, it’s true, actually, I did kind of go into a little bit of like post-show depression after we filmed. The show took so much of my energy and so much of my focus and so much of my heart. I just miss everybody so much that worked on it. I just kind of slipped into this like sad state of mind for a while. So that, that was hard to shake. I wasn’t stuck in Gypsy, but I was having a hard time shaking this like this heavy cloud over me after we wrapped because I just felt so much love on that show. But now I feel good. I’m happy and I’m working on the Kissing Booth sequel right now, which is really exciting because I love playing that character. Elle Evans, she will always have a place in my heart. So being able to bring her back and knowing that the fans are super excited to see that, it makes showing up on set every day very, very exciting. Because I know that we are shooting something that impacted a lot of young people’s lives and I can’t wait for them to see the next chapter.

Well this has been so great chatting with you, Joey. Thanks so much.

Thank you so much. It was so fun talking with you.